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Friday, 30 March 2012

Harry Potter Studio Tour Review

Last weekend I was very lucky to be given the opportunity to visit the Warner Brothers Harry Potter Studio Tour in Leavesden, Hertfordshire on one of their preview days. I have been a Harry Potter fan for fifteen years, ever since I was drawn into the magical world of Hogwarts while reading the first book, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone. It did take me a while to get used to the films, as I had my own visions of Diagon Alley and all the characters, but as each big-screen adaptation got bigger, bolder and darker, I really started to enjoy the film versions and now when reading the books I find myself imagining the sets and actor from the films and cannot see anyone else playing the roles of Harry, Snape et al.

Ever since I heard about the studio tour plans, I have been so excited about being able to explore the working film sets and the attraction delivers even more than I thought it would. Leavesden Studios is formerly Leavesden Aerodrome with an airfield and factory and has been home to the HP films for the last ten years. It is very well sign-posted from the M25 and the drive in is spectacular, with iconic images from the film emblazoned on the side of the studios. There are even three of the huge ‘Wizard’s Chess’ figures to greet you near the entrance. The staff cannot be more friendly or helpful and the atrium is amazing, with huge images of cast members on all of the surrounding walls and props from the films including Mr Weasley’s flying car. There is a great Café to wait until your tour starts and the shop is very well stocked, if a little expensive.

The tour begins with a short introduction in a holding room with various film posters flashing on the screens on the wall and a short film about the popularity of the boy wizard. We were then ushered into the most comfortable cinema I have ever been in, to watch a lovely film with Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint talking about their experiences growing up at the studios over a period of ten years. There is then a fantastic surprise reveal of the doors to the Great Hall which resulted in applause and cheers.

The Great Hall is truly stunning and such an iconic film set. The floor is made from real York stone to provide a solid base for ten years of filming and it really does feel like an old building full of history. You can almost hear the sounds of the students and see Nearly Headless Nick and the Bloody Baron floating around! The long tables are on either side, ready for a banquet and we are greeted at the end of the hall by all of the teachers, with Dumbledore at the centre with his owl lecturn which is made of real gold and covered in years worth of candle wax. Here we are given another short talk by the impressive fireplace displaying each house symbol. We are then free to explore the rest of the studios!

The first part is some sights associated with the Great Hall – the floating candles and the Yule Ball and Chocolate Feast props, which really do look real! There are also costumes and a big display of impressive wigs. There is just too much on display to be able to mention – so many props and costumes and all of the most memorable sets. I ended up taking hundreds of photos, but these are the main highlights:

Gryffindor Boys’ Dormitory – home for Harry, Ron, Neville and Seamus. There are initialled trunks under each bed and so much attention to detail including posters for West Ham United and the Chudley Cannons! This set looks much smaller than it does on screen.

Gryffindor Common Room – a very cosy room full of comfortable sofas and chairs and the walls draped in tapestries. Look out for the portrait of a young Prof. McGonagall and cat!

Dumbledore’s Office – a very impressive space full of hundreds of books, which are actually phone books covered in leather! There are 48 portraits of headmasters looking down on us and some of the most memorable props on display including the Sorting Hat, Sword of Gryffindor and Penseive, complete with memory cabinet featuring 800 vials with hand-written labels!

Potions Classroom – hundreds of glass jars full of ingredients protected by the forms of Snape and Slughorn. It really feels like a dark, hidden dungeon in the castle. Look out for the self-stirring cauldron and bezoar on the desks!

Hagrid’s Hut – this oddly enough smelt of animals and mud. The pumpkin patch is outside and Fang is by his master’s side. Here there is also a very interesting display and short film about the animals trained to play the roles of Hedwig, Scabbers, Fang, Crookshanks and Mrs Norris.

The Burrow – there are lots of special effects on display here including knitting needles, a knife and iron which all appear to be working on their own, with Mrs Weasley keeping watch. Here we also see the famous Weasley family clock.

Green Screen area – a very impressive area where we can see the Gringott’s cart, Hagrid’s motorbike and brooksticks in action. There is also a very big surprise where visitors can actually act in two scenes – driving Mr Weasley’s flying car and riding a broomstick through the busy streets of London and over Hogwarts. You can watch the action on the screen in front of you and buy photos of your experience as a very special souvenir! This was great fun a a real highlight of the day!

Ministry of Magic – we are greeted by sinister the Magic is Might statue and get a peep at Delores Umbridge’s very pink office decorated with cat plates. We also see the huge office towers and green fireplaces. Before going out into the sunshine on the Backlot, we meet the Death Eaters and He Who Must Not Be Named and see an amazing cabinet full of paper props which really show how detailed the films were, even if we don’t see everything on screen. Here we see letters, exam papers, exercise books – all characters have their own style of writing and this really bought of the characters to life for me! There are also examples of The Daily Prophet, The Quibbler, Maurader’s Map and lots of Weasley Wizard Wheezes packaging!

Its then out to the Backlot where we can explore Privet Drive, the Knight Bus and the Hogwarts Bridge, which was last seen in flames in the Deathly Hallows Part 2. This is also the chance to finally taste Butterbeer! Its delicious, kind of like cream soda with a caramel syrup. I think this kiosk could be made to feel more like the Hogs Head though…

After passing more Wizards Chess pieces, we enter the Creature Workshop which is fascinating. Here we see how goblins, hippogriffs, house elves and dragons were bought to life and see some life-like models. I loved meeting Dobby and Buckbeak!

From here, we enter Diagon Alley which is breathtaking! All the famous shop fronts are here from Gringotts to Ollivanders and Eyelops Owl Emporium to Flourish and Blotts Bookshop – full of Lockhart books of course! Plus the latest addition to the street Weasley’s Wizard Wheezes which is huge! It is genuinely exciting to walk up and down the cobbled pavement.

The climax to the tour is the jawdropping scale model of HogwartsCastle, which was used for the aerial scenes. There is so much attention to detail and it is beautiful to look at, with the lights going from day to night every four minutes. We spent ages walking around to see the castle from every angle.

Before you exit into the gift shop, we are taken through Ollivander’s Wand Shop which has a wand labelled with the name of every person who has worked on the films. There are over 4,000 and it really makes you realise the scale of the project and how much work went into them. All of these people were very lucky to be part of something so amazing. A very fitting and poignant end to the day.

Overall the tour was stunning, everything I expected and so much more. Fans of Harry Potter and films in general are in for a real treat. There were parts when I found myself thinking I was in a museum and started believing that the whole story was in fact real! One of the staff showed me Lily Potter’s letter to Sirius which is a big part of the final book, but not shown in the film and I was really excited, realising a few seconds later that it is in fact fictional!

What I have mentioned above is just the tip of the iceberg, there are literally thousands of props and small details to discover and lots of surprises along the way! There have been some negative comments in the press about the entry price, but I disagree and think it is really good value. The money and time spent on the attraction is obvious and there are hours of entertainment to be enjoyed. I could have spent much longer there. Compared to prices of theme parks, I think its reasonable and I would have been happy if I had paid to go in. In fact I am already planning a return visit to take other HP fans!

I have not stopped raving about my visit over the last week and am now reading all the books and watching all the films once again! It is great to see that with Pottermore and this attraction these amazing stories will keep evolving and living on and on. Mischief Managed.

About Me

I have always read to relax from a very young age. I love reading as you can travel anywhere in the world, or into the past and just escape into a good story. I have a particular interest in WWI and historical fiction as well as plays and non-fiction books on nature and cooking. I am also a huge Jane Austen fan!
I run a book group to encourage me to read some different genres and thought I would start a blog to keep a record of my thoughts and hopefully share reviews with other readers.
I have worked in theatre marketing for eight years and recently taken on a new role as Box Office Manager. Therefore I will also do the odd theatre review or feature too!
goodreads.com/hillingdonbooks